A President Forgotten: James Garfield Part One

“I love to believe that no heroic sacrifice is ever lost, that the characters of men are moulded and inspired by what their fathers have done.” James Garfield, 1868

Hey everyone. Welcome back. 

Last fall, Netflix debuted a pretty fantastic miniseries called Death by Lightning. If you somehow haven’t heard of it, it is a four-part drama about the election and murder of twentieth president James Garfield. The series was developed from Candice Millard’s book Destiny of the Republic which covers the same time period, giving a bit more background into Garfield’s youth. Both the mini series and the book are incredible - I have watched Death by Lightning a few times since its debut and once I picked up Millard’s book I could not put it down. I mention these items only because I think they are great supplements to the next few episodes on the schedule and I think you might enjoy them both. And with that, let’s dive in. 

James Garfield is a man whose death left an arguably deeper legacy than his life. Despite being elected as the twentieth president of the United States in 1880 in one of the closest elections in American history, Garfield is remembered more for how he died than how he lived - when he is even remembered at all. James Garfield was not a man who vied for the office. In fact, as I will get into, he actively tried to dissuade people from putting his name forward in nomination. But once nominated, Garfield was committed and once elected, appeared dedicated to running his administration with integrity. But while James Garfield began his presidency with the roar of a lion, he never had a chance to see the fruits of his labor, dying quietly from an infection just a few months into his presidency. Because so much attention has been paid on how he died, I wanted to dedicate time exploring how he lived - thus you’ll be getting multiple Garfield-focused episodes. 

So this week I am diving into the life of James A. Garfield. Who was he? How did he get into politics? 

Grab your cup of coffee, peeps. Let’s do this. 

James Garfield knew struggle from the start. Born in a log cabin on November 19, 1831 on a farm on the outskirts of Cleveland, Ohio, Garfield joined his four older siblings in a family struggling with poverty. Making matters worse, the family patriarch, Abram Garfield died before young James turned two, leaving his mother Eliza a widow. Abram’s death left the family in a dire financial situation and there was a real concern about whether Eliza would be able to keep her young family together. Given the financial precarity, there was a real risk that James and his siblings could be sent to live with other, more prosperous families. While Eliza avoided losing custody of her children, the impact of poverty was real - so real, in fact, that young James did not own a pair of shoes until the age of four. 

In his youth, Garfield was drawn to the sea and had early dreams of becoming a sailor. At sixteen, he ran away in an attempt to make his dreams a reality. Unfortunately for the young teenager, despite a deep love and admiration for the ocean, he lacked a certain skillset to be successful. While Garfield briefly found work on canal boats, he never found his sea legs, falling overboard over a dozen times, finally catching a terrible fever that prompted his return home. While in recovery, Garfield decided that he would no longer rely on his strength to earn his way in life, but instead rely on his mind. From that point forward James Garfield would become a life-long believer in and supporter of education. 

In 1848, Garfield enrolled at the Geauga Academy in Chester, Ohio. To support himself, Garfield took up work as a carpenter, then as a part time teacher at a local school. It was while attending the co-ed academy that he met the woman who would one day become his wife, Lucretia Rudolph, who was also enrolled as a student. Although the two met while attending the same school, it is believed the couple did not strike up a friendship until 1851 when they were both attending the Eclectic Institute in Hiram, Ohio, known today as Hiram College. The couple would go through a prolonged, and sometimes strained courtship, before marrying in 1858, but one thing they had in common from the start was a love of learning. 

While attending classes at the Institute, Garfield earned his way as a janitor. Growing up in poverty, Garfield was honest about his lack of financial backing and never seemed ashamed about his upbringing. And while friends and colleagues at school knew that Garfield did not enter school with the same resources, he did not let it become a barrier. In 1854, Garfield transferred to Williams College as a Junior, despite being one of the eldest students on campus. Williams College proved to be a good fit for Garfield, who responded well to the intellectual stimulation provided by the school, while also enjoying the extracurricular activities including fishing, billiards and the occasional drink. In 1856, Garfield graduated from Williams College with honors and returned to Eclectic Institute where he became an educator. Although Garfield was brought on as an instructor in classical languages, he oversaw a variety of classes including English, geology, and of course the best subject - history. Just a year later, the young teacher was president of the institute, a post he served in until 1861, even though he found the administrative tasks of dealing with bickering faculty to be quite boring. 

Amid developing his teaching career, Garfield married Lucretia and began studying law on his, passing the bar in 1861. Perhaps tiring of the administrative burdens that came with being president of an educational facility, Garfield started eying politics. A staunch abolitionist and held the opinion that slavery had to be contained to the areas where it already existed. It could not - under any circumstances - be allowed to spread further. Evaluating his political choices, Garfield joined the ranks of the emerging Republican party and supported John C Fremont in the 1856 presidential contest. In 1859, Garfield decided to jump into state politics and became the youngest member of the state’s legislature upon assuming office in 1860. 

Of course, 1860 was a watershed year for the country. Tensions over the slavery question were escalating. Debates over the best course of action were increasingly ending in violence and there was another presidential election on the horizon. In a testament to just how divided the country was, the Democratic party couldn’t agree on who to field as their chosen candidate, instead holding two separate conventions and landed on John C. Breckenridge and Stephen Douglas, respectively. The Republicans chose newcomer Abraham Lincoln, but for those who remained dissatisfied with their choices, there was John Bell from the Constitutional Union Party. And if you’ve been listening to the show for a while - or know the basics of U.S. history - than you know that when all the votes were tallied, Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln proved victorious - earning enough votes to become the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln’s election was just the justification some southern leaders needed in announcing their decision to secede from the country. For James Garfield, however, there was no negotiating. 

Writing quote, “I am inclined to believe that the sin of slavery is one of which it may be said that without shedding of blood there is no remission,” Garfield was against secession and believed strongly that the federal government must respond forcefully to any attempt by southern governments to withdraw from the country. When the attack on Fort Sumter began and the fort fell, Garfield was hopeful, believing it would prove to be the rallying cry for the last remaining Northern hold outs who were dragging their feet about war against the south. Not one to shirk from his duties, Garfield joined the Union Army in 1861 and in August, organized the 42nd Ohio Infantry where he started as a Lt. Colonel before achieving the rank of full colonel after only a few weeks. 

And while Garfield saw serving in the war as part of his duty, seeing the real impact of the war stayed with him. The young colonel earned fame and promotion twice during the war - once at the Battle of Middle Creek in January of 1862 and again in September of 1863 at Chickamauga where he was recognized for riding under enemy fire. Garfield’s achievements on the battlefield led to him becoming the youngest office to hold the rank of major general; while he was very proud of his service, Garfield nevertheless resigned his post at the request of President Lincoln after he was elected to Congress - all without making the slightest effort at campaigning. In a letter home, Garfield wrote of his decision quote, “I did this with regret, for I had hoped not to return to its allegiance. But the president told me he dared not risk a single vote in the House and he needed men in Congress who were practically acquainted with the wants of the army. I did not feel it right to consult my own preference in such a case,” end quote. 

Throughout his time in congress, Garfield served on a number of committees, including the vital Appropriations Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. These assignments really taught Garfield a lot about finances and led him to become a strong supporter of the hard money policy. He was firm in his opinion and opposed any proposal that he deemed inflationary – even going against the residents in his district. When it came to labor policy, however, Garfield was not progressive. He was against labor unions and opposed the idea of an eight-hour work day – even arguing against it as policy for federal employees. He also supported the use of federal troops in breaking up strikes. 

Early on in his congressional career, Garfield was one of the most Radical of the Radical Republicans. Despite supporting his bid for the presidency, Garfield was not a fan of Lincoln and considered little more than a quote unquote “second-rate Illinois lawyer” who had, in Garfield’s estimation, failed to prosecute the war effectively. Garfield had a much harsher opinion on how to properly handle Confederates and those who took up arms against the Union. He was in favor, for example, of confiscating Northern rebel property and was on board with executing or exiling Confederate leaders. While his fierce commitment to the equality and extension of rights toward Black Americans never waivered, Garfield matured in his elected position over the 18 years he spent in Congress. While he entered the House of Representatives a bit of a firebrand – a man ready to tackle the world – or at least carry the weight of it on his shoulders, as he gained more experience, Garfield learned how to temper his more radical tendencies while still remaining effective to achieve progress. While his ability to reach compromise upset some who dismissed his approach as nothing more than opportunism, others appreciated him for working toward practical solutions. This frustration over Garfield’s supposed loss of spark cropped up during Reconstruction when the senior statesmen leaned toward the more moderate side of his Radical colleagues.

And although Garfield may have mellowed as he aged, he had not abandoned his principles and he refused to abdicate his responsibilities. Thus, he joined his fellow republicans in voting to impeach President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and when Civil War hero General Ulysses S. Grant ran on the Republican ticket in the next presidential election, Garfield again did the work of a party faithful and supported Grant’s candidacy, despite having reservations about Grant’s ability to lead the executive branch given his lack of political experience.  

Garfield’s political career is largely blemish free, but it is not completely untainted by scandal. He was caught in the twisted web known as Credit Mobilier. As historian Justus Doenecke describes quote, “Garfield was also identified as one of several congressmen who had accepted stock in Credit Mobilier, a construction company for the transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad that had received loans and land grants from the government. The congressmen involved were accused of using their influence to weaken congressional oversight of the company, thereby permitting the company officers to pay themselves huge expenses and salaries,” end quote. Garfield’s involvement in this scandal is admittedly limited – and there is some dispute about whether he accepted stock. Garfield claimed he never took stock, but received a $329 loan from the company - a loan that he paid back. Writing of the situation later, Garfield said quote “there is nothing in my relation to the case for which the tenderest conscience or the most scrupulous honor can blame me,” end quote. But Garfield also knew that politics was not always about if someone actually did something wrong, if people believed otherwise, writing again quote “it is not enough for one to know that his heart and motives are pure,” end quote. Garfield was able to convince his constituents to re-elect him – but he did have to campaign a little harder than before. 

When the presidential election results were up for debate in 1876, Garfield served on the commission that investigated the disputed returns from the states in question and voted with his fellow Republicans to award the necessary electoral votes to Rutherford B Hayes, making him the 19th president of the United States. In an article by the Miller Center, historian Justus Doenecke describes quote, “to soothe enraged Democrats who controlled the House of Representatives, Garfield worked behind the scenes in support of the Compromise of 1877, which ended military occupation of the South,” end quote. During Hayes’ presidency, Garfield was the minority leader in the House and earned a reputation as being able to wrestle compromise out of an increasingly fractured party. This was an era of Republican politics where the party was fraying over disagreements about how to exercise political power. On one hand were the Stalwarts. Led by New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, this section of the party believed in patronage - otherwise known as the spoils system - and they held firm to the belief that they should reward their supporters with government jobs, contracts, or other favors. On the other side was Maine Senator James G. Blaine and his followers, known as the Halfbreeds who saw the flaws of the patronage system and its potential for scandal. After watching the ongoing political scandals that plagued the Grant administration, Halfbreeds started warming to the idea of civil service reform, which had the potential to neutralize patronage.  

President Hayes made some attempts at implementing civil service reform by going against Conkling in a mild battle over the New York Customhouse, but with his decision to only serve a single term, there was an opportunity. And the two factions of the Republican party were preparing to wrestle for party control - and the presidential nomination - in the 1880 contest. Little did anyone know that a speech by Garfield would prove to be a game changer. But that, dear friends, is for another episode. 

Be sure to tune in for the concluding chapter of Jame Garfield to learn about his unexpected nomination and his election in 1880 - and the assassination attempt that followed. 

And as a friendly reminder if you are listening to this episode on or near release day - I have a very special episode coming to you next week, March 21st. I am very excited to share this with you and I am honored to be partnering with the organization. I will drop a few hints throughout the week on the social media channels, so be sure to watch for clues throughout the week and tune in on Saturday for the big reveal.

Thanks, peeps. I will see you next time.